James Grossman and the 911 Carrera S - Jack Eric Grossman

In the Blood
The 911 is hard to justify by the numbers because its strengths
are hard to quantify. The Corvette typically matches or outshines
the 911 in any spec you can throw at it. But why resort to bean
counting when making such an emotional purchase? Yes, the
Corvette frequents Car and Driver’s “10-best list.” Yet try to fi nd a
Corvette accolade that isn’t qualifi ed by reminding us of its relatively
“bargin” price. It’s meeting benchmarks but never setting them.
Just consider the Corvette’s beginnings as a Motorama
marketing tool to “generate excitement right away” for Ed
Cole’s small block V8 [Road & Track, September 2004]. To
make Cole’s ambitious 1953 production deadline, the design
was rushed at “a fraction of the normal lead time.” Ironically,
the Corvette would then spend 2 years with an underpowered
inline-6 before the V8 engine it was showcasing was ready.
Compare this to the evolution of the 911, which can trace its lineage
to the lightweight 356 Speedster and 550 Spyder of the 1950’s.
Never straying from its racing roots, Porsche has been successful
in nearly every category of motor racing at the highest level.
“Eight world championships in long-distance sport, three World
Championship titles in Formula 1, 16 victories at Le Mans, record
victories in the classics in Daytona, Sebring and the Targa Florio . . .
Worldwide, Porsche sports cars have achieved around 23,000 racing
victories.” [www.porscheracing.com] Most importantly, much of
the racing technology fi nds its way into Porsche production cars.
Porsche has always been an innovative leader in the sports car
market, currently holding over 3000 patents and claiming such
fi rsts as: the fi rst ring synchronmesh; the world’s fi rst production
sports car with exhaust gas turbocharger, and the fi rst European
car in the US with driver and front passenger airbags standard.
Why do events half a century ago matter today? Because today
the cars echo the same philosophies they started with. While
the Corvette relies on brute force and large displacement, the
911 precisely extracts power from its lightweight, small engine.